An imposing villa in the central city of Da Nang has been built illegally on forest land since 2011 by a former province police chief while authorities say they were unable to prevent the construction due to several 'hard-to-say' reasons. The former police official is Major General Phan Nhu Thach, who used to be director of the central Quang Nam Province Police Department. He retired in September 2014. The villa is located on an area of about 4,000 square meters of forest land at the foot of the Hai Van Mountain in Hiep Hoa Bac Ward, Lien Chieu District. The huge villa, which is surrounded by a 3 meter-tall wall, is standing out among a poor residential area. The villa, whose construction was basically completed, was built without a license but both the district authorities and the local forest protection unit said they were unable to prevent the construction.

Afraid of the general’s dogs? Nguyen Xuan Hoai, head of the district urban management team, told Tuoi Tre that the location of the villa was previously managed by the Hai Van Reforestation Team. “I live near the unfinished villa but I failed to step inside it as there are some ferocious dogs inside its premises all the time.”  In talking with Tuoi Tre on Tuesday, Duong Thanh Thi, chairman of Lien Chieu District People’s Committee said, “Mr. Thach is building a villa there. He seems to have bought the land from local residents…Under prevailing regulations, construction is not allowed to be carried out on that land. No people are granted a license for construction there.” In August 2013, the district authorities and the local rangers’ force decided to issue administrative penalty in the form of writing minutes on the estate construction, but no workers at the site agreed to sign the minutes, while Major General Thach was not there. Thi said the authorities later had a meeting with Thach, who was then the incumbent director of Quang Nam Province Police Department, over the matter. Thi said he had requested Thach comply with regulations on construction to avoid criticism from local residents in Lien  Chieu District. “Thach said he knew the construction was not in accordance with current regulations, but promised he would apply for a license from the city government,” Thi said. Meanwhile, Dam Quang Hung, deputy chairman of the district People’s Committee, said local authorities have yet to receive any documents from the municipal government on licensing the construction at that location, according to the Phap Luat (Law) Online.   Nguyen Duc Thang, director of the district Registration Office for Land Use Rights, under the Da Nang City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said, “Nobody has been granted a certificate of house ownership in the area where the villa is being built.” Many other local officials told Tuoi Tre that the villa issue is “hard to talk about.” Meanwhile, many locals in Hiep Hoa Bac Ward said local authorities forced them to remove all their unlawful building works in the area while the construction of the said villa continued, Phap Luat  Online reported. Nguyen Nhu Tien, former head of the Veteran Association of Hiep Hoa Bac Ward, was cited by Phap Luat Online as saying, “I rented over 5,000 square meters of forest land, on which only temporary houses are allowed to be built. When I saw Thach build the villa, I also built an eatery as a way to make a living, but the urban construction management team requested that I remove the facility or they would demolish it.” Tien said he responded to the team by questioning them why the construction of Thach’s villa was not demolished, but nobody replied, Phap Luat Online reported.

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